Russia says has deployed S-300 missile system to Syria

MOSCOW, October 4

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday it had deployed an S-300 missile system to its Tartus naval base in Syria.

"The missile battery is intended to ensure the safety of the naval base ... It is unclear why the deployment of the S-300 caused such alarm among our Western partners," the ministry said in a statement.

US media reported earlier this week that Russia had sent the S-300 system to Syria at the weekend in its first foreign deployment of a surface-to-air weapon in the civil war-ridden country.

Peace efforts

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday efforts to end Syria's war must continue despite Washington's decision to break off talks with Moscow over its "irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised" support for President Bashar al-Assad.

The United States on Monday suspended talks with Russia on implementing a ceasefire deal in Syria, accusing Moscow of not living up to its commitments to halt fighting and ensure aid reached besieged communities.

"We are not giving up on the Syrian people and we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace," Kerry said in a speech in Brussels.

"We will continue to pursue a meaningful, sustainable, enforceable cessation of hostilities throughout the country - and that includes the grounding of Syrian and Russian combat aircraft in designated areas."

Kerry charged that Russia had "turned a blind eye" to Assad's "deplorable" use of chlorine gas and barrel bombs and suggested they were pursing a scorched earth policy in place of diplomacy.

"Where they make a desert, they call it peace," he said, quoting the Roman historian Tacitus. He said if Russia was serious about peace, it would have to behave differently than it was now in Syria.

"Russia knows exactly what it needs to do in order to get that cessation implemented and in a fair and reasonable way," he said.

Kerry said all parties had a duty to enable delivery of humanitarian assistance, adding that opposition groups had told the United States they agreed with that.

"It still remains for Russia and the regime to permit that and guarantee it," he said.

Russian news agencies, citing Kerry's Syria interlocutor, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow would continue to make efforts to resolve the Syria crisis despite the US suspension of the talks.

A spokeswoman for UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said he was in "intensive consultations" on the way forward.

The end of the talks could trigger deeper US consideration of military options such as providing more sophisticated arms, logistical support, and training to rebel groups.

But the speed with which the ceasefire collapsed — after a UN aid convoy was bombed in Syria — appeared to surprise some US officials, leaving them without a clear plan on the immediate way forward.

US President Barack Obama has been loath to get more deeply involved and US officials have said he is unlikely to do so with less than four months left in office.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein warned Russia on Tuesday over the use of incendiary weapons in Syria's besieged enclave of eastern Aleppo, and said crimes by one side did not justify illegal acts by the other. — Reuters